


vanilla sky

by fruti2flutie



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: 0.2 seconds of angst, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Merpeople
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 08:10:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14613690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fruti2flutie/pseuds/fruti2flutie
Summary: haknyeon meets eric on the beach.





	vanilla sky

**Author's Note:**

> -inspired by hakking's [dazed profile film](https://youtu.be/tEERSTRlHM8) & also fueled by @flowertheboyz [mermaid!haknyeon aesthetic](https://flowertheboyz.tumblr.com/post/170648215305/haknyeon-x-mermaid-aesthetic-requests-always)  
> -song title taken from ["vanilla sky (feat. hoik)" by aoora](https://youtu.be/OckLnMv9ndg)  
> -this is completely self-indulgent (i miss pink!eric) + i've had this idea since, like, january LOL  
> -forgive any mistakes u spot,, i will fix them e v e n t u a l l y  
> -HAPPY MERMAY!!!!

The air smells like bananas. That might be contributed by the banana-scented sunblock Jacob is spraying onto Kevin’s back, the two under the protective shade of the multicolored beach umbrella.

Correction: that is literally the only possible reason the synthetically constructed beach by the resort would ever smell like bananas. Eric is pretty sure he’d tripped on a plastic coconut on the walk over here. Jacob had laughed at him and then proceeded to get his flip-flop stuck in the sand, plopping face-first into the ground.

Karma, Eric’s life-long comrade, is good to him.

“Hey, Eric Sohn! Get over here!” Jacob yells. “We don’t want you sunburnt now, do we? You’d match your hair!”

Eric crawls to the shade of the umbrella, pouting. “Okay, _mom_.”

Jacob shakes the bottle of sunblock before spritzing Eric’s arms. “You’ll thank me later, when you’re not as red as a tomato in the summertime.” He stops and turns to Kevin. “Do tomatoes grow in the summertime?”

“What do I look like — a farmer?” Kevin counters. Jacob hums. “The answer should be _no_. Do _not_ tell me I look like a farmer.” Eric snickers.

The friends are on a week-long trip to Korea’s coast. It’s a retreat for the church, more specifically, and since their families are all devout members of the community there was no way they’d miss the chance. Most of the sessions are for adults, though, so the kids and teens are either playing in the recreation center or going off on their own. Right now, the three boys are enjoying their freetime on the beach.

Eric _loves_ the beach. The sand between his toes, the sizzle of the waves. He loves the heat that settles beneath his skin, warming him from the inside out. Having grown up on the Pacific coast, these things come naturally: sunburn atop his skin, seawater making his eyes sting, seagulls trying to steal his Doritos. Jacob and Kevin, who come from the polar opposite in snow land (a.k.a. Canada), have to adjust first with precautionary measures like sunblock. Eric doesn’t want to worry them, so he follows along.

Once Jacob is done spraying him, Eric runs at lightspeed to the water. He splashes into the waves, barreling through the current, and paddles farther out. He gets pretty far, impressively, given he hadn’t properly stretched before swimming. He lets himself float on his back, head just above the water, legs kicking to keep him from sinking. The sight around him is peaceful: the cloudless sky, the boats sailing in the distance, the water crashing on the rocks that stick out from the surface. Eric could float here for hours.

A reflective, emerald light by the rocks catches Eric’s eye. Something big, covered in scales, its movement fluid as if it’s the water itself. He hears it more than he sees it, the splash of a resounding echo as it delves underwater. It gets him to startle backwards and nearly choke, finding balance with a doggy paddle.

“No way.” Eric rubs his eyes to check if he’s dreaming. Belatedly realizing that he’s in _saltwater_ , the self-inflicted pain is most definitely real. Eric is most definitely _not_ dreaming.

Hastily, Eric swims over to where he saw the splash and anchors himself on the rock. Steps careful, he climbs on top of it and scans the water in search of— of—

Something. He stays there for a good twenty minutes, waiting for that _something_ to return to the surface. The water is clear but not nearly as clear enough to see the bottom. Eric can make out the muddled shapes of fish, seaweed, and shells, but nothing like what he’d seen earlier. He pouts.

He wants to wait longer, but Jacob and Kevin are waving at him to come back to the shore. He glances at the water, declares a definite, “I’ll be back,” and jumps back in.

Kevin is sitting on the sand, where the tide rises up to his knees, legs spread into a _V_. Jacob is behind him, digging a trench to catch the incoming wave before it can destroy his sandcastle. It’s two stories high, molded from plastic cups, with shards of shells on the exterior. When Eric gets close enough, they welcome him back (Jacob) and ask why he’s been stuck to that rock like a beached starfish (Kevin).

“I saw something swimming out there,” Eric answers. “I wanted to see it again, so I waited.”

“Maybe it was a shark,” Kevin proposes with a shrug.

“Shark,” echoes Jacob, visibly paling. Kevin pushes him, laughing.

“No, no, no, no. It was—” Eric gazes at the water, dazed, breaths heavy, barely feeling the tide crash against his shins, “—beautiful.”

——

“Pink! It was _pink_ , Younghoon! _Pink!_ Isn’t that just lovely!?”

“Haknyeon, what in oceans are you blabbering about?” Younghoon rubs at his tail, mildly disinterested, the silver scales reflecting light onto the walls of the cove. He splashes once and then brings his voice to a cautious whisper. “Don’t tell me you went by that beach again.”

The wide, unregretful grin Haknyeon wears is enough of an answer. He’s defensive as he responds, “Only for a few minutes!”

“Not again.” Younghoon shakes his head. “You’re getting yourself into trouble.”

“Am I, though? Am I?” Haknyeon lifts his tail up, splashing the elder with water. “What’s the trouble in coming up for air every now and then?”

“Don’t fool me! You don’t need to be so close to humans to do that,” Younghoon huffs. “We’re merpeople, Haknyeon. We keep the secret of our existence below the water.”

“Very boring,” Haknyeon grumbles.

“Yeah, but _very_ safe.” Younghoon swims to the other side of the pool, perching himself on the ledge, next to Haknyeon. “Remember that story of the mermaid getting legs to be on land? She got too involved with humans and ended up turning into _seafoam_. Bubbles and organic matter.”

Rolling his eyes, Haknyeon scoffs, “That’s just a scary story to tell hatchlings so they don’t wander into fishing nets.” He splashes the water again, sneering. “Why would I want those dangly legs anyway? I’ve got a strong tail to keep me afloat.”

“You’re about to poke my eye out, Haknyeon. Keep it in the water!”

As Younghoon and Haknyeon bicker a figure comes into view from the bottom of the pool, swimming through the cove’s entrance. Dark hair, dimpled smile, ivory-colored scales. After Changmin rises to the surface, Younghoon greets his partner with a light pinch on his fin before wrapping his arm around the younger male’s middle. Haknyeon grimaces at the display of affection, while Changmin just grins widely and settles between the two other mermen.

“You’re just in time for Haknyeon to tell us about his adventures by the beach,” Younghoon says.

Changmin perks up, excited. “The one on the other side of the island? The baby sea turtles are heading out to sea now! Did you see them? I helped a few along.” Haknyeon scratches his chin, looking away, muttering something under his breath. “What’s that now? I can’t hear you at all.”

“Not _our_ beach,” Younghoon declares. Changmin frowns, confused, but then is struck with the realization.

“That beach with all those _humans_!?” Changmin shrieks. He slaps Haknyeon’s arm. “That’s dangerous!”

“I wasn’t even that close!” Haknyeon retorts.

“He was going on about some pink boy,” Younghoon adds. (He reminds Haknyeon of his younger sister when she’s tattling on him to their mother for _borrowing_ her pearls.) Changmin inhales sharply, as if deeply offended.

“Pink- _haired_ ,” Haknyeon corrects. He shrinks at the two mermen’s pointed glares, murmuring, “It was very pretty.”

“Did he see you?” Changmin questions.

“I was careful,” Haknyeon says, which seems to quell Changmin’s concern. The truth of the matter is, however, Haknyeon has no idea whether or not he was seen by that boy. He was careful, but he’d been too transfixed on the unusual hair color to see if he’d hidden underwater in time when the boy came near. He’s not _really_ lying — just omitting.

“Don’t go there again,” Changmin warns. Younghoon nods. “We don’t want to see you hurt. You don’t want to turn into seafoam, do you?”

Haknyeon doesn’t feel comforted by Younghoon’s over-the-top “I TOLD YOU SO” that echoes throughout the cove. He tries to listen to them, for the most part.

——

The next morning, Eric leaves the guesthouse before the break of dawn. He makes sure to tip-toe out across the living room, not wanting to wake Kevin and Jacob, who sleep soundly on the air mattress. He leaves a note posted on the fridge — _off to the beach! don’t worry about me <3 _ — and brings a drawstring bag with him. He shuts the door carefully behind him and then skips down the path to the beach.

The beach is a five minute walk from the guesthouse. No one is around when Eric arrives, most likely due to the unreasonably time and the fact that the beach is _technically_ closed, too. He rolls out a towel onto the sand, warily looking both ways in case someone decides to apprehend him for trespassing. With the coast clear, he sheds his shirt and dives straight into the water.

The rocks that he’d floated by yesterday are a long swim away, the strong current striking at him with every stroke. He has to pause to catch his breath more than once, trying to stay afloat as his heart beats wildly from the threat of exhaustion. He refuses to turn back when his goal is within reach.

When he gets to the rocks Eric immediately hoists himself up, lies flat on his stomach, and breathes. He lets out a cheer, which comes out hoarse, and laughs. He did it!

Even though he’s an immature, improper, impulsive kid, he’s come prepared. In his pocket are several Ziploc snack bags of apple slices, pretzels, and carrot sticks. He sits up and, when it’s certain he won’t slip off, opens the bag of carrots and starts his stakeout.

He actually hasn’t taken into account if this plan would work, but he wants to try. It could take minutes. It could take hours. There’s also a good chance nothing will happen and he’d have wasted a whole morning he could’ve been sleeping in. Even so, Eric is looking on the bright side.

Eric gets to see the afterglow of the sunrise, thin clouds shading its light. He doesn’t have a watch, so his concept of time is the height of the sun. As it gets well above the horizon he decides that trying to talk to the water wouldn’t hurt, if what he’s looking for is there. (He’s also out of snacks, which is an incentive to head back to the guesthouse soon.)

“I’m pretty sure I saw you yesterday.” Eric dips his toe in the water, the waves too restless to create any ripples. “I freaked out a bit. My friends think I saw a shark, which is kind of funny to me.

“You couldn’t’ve have been a shark! There was a huge splash, and you were this... sparkling green color.” Eric laughs. “I don’t think sharks look like that. Or maybe there are a couple that can. Maybe I haven’t met them yet...”

The ocean goes silent. The waves settle, and Eric can almost see below the surface. The dark algae, the porous reef, and the tails of fish that swim out of sight. He’s creeped out for sure, but there’s an entrancing quality to the stillness. He watches the water closely and, all of a sudden, is face-to-face with a boy — a boy with an aquamarine tail.

“Sharks aren’t nearly as pretty as I am.”

Eric’s eyes widen. “Oh my God. You’re here. Oh my God. You’re _here_. Oh my God!” The— the _merman_ , green scales shimmering in the light, nods. “I’m Eric!”

“I’m Haknyeon,” the merman replies, eyeing Eric curiously. “I like your hair.”

Nervous and tickled pink (like his hair), Eric waits for Haknyeon to speak again. For once in his life he’s been struck speechless. What’s he supposed to say? He hadn’t thought to prepare conversational pieces! It’s not every day he gets to meet a mythical creature. And it’s certainly not every day he receives praise on the dye job he did because of a lost bet with Kevin about platypuses. (In Eric’s defense, middle school biology taught him that mammals _do not_ lay eggs.)

“Are those real legs?”

Eric cracks a smile. “Why, yes they are. Born and raised on my feet.” Haknyeon stays silent, staring at Eric’s legs. The boy raises a leg and points to his heel. “This is a foot.”

Haknyeon’s lips part. Suddenly, he reaches out and trails his finger along the arch of Eric’s foot, flinching when Eric jolts. “Sorry! Did I hurt you?”

“No,” Eric assures. “That just tickles. It’s got to do with the nerves.” Haknyeon marvels at it, fascinated. “What about you? How about that tail?”

Haknyeon beams. “This is a real tail! It used to be white, when I was young, but then it developed this pigment once I matured.” He flips around and points to the v-shaped end of his tail. “My fluke.” From his lower back to the middle of his tail, where a thin membrane similar to his fluke sticks out, he concludes, “Fin.”

“Can I touch it?” Haknyeon smiles, but it drops when they hear a voice from the shore.

“Eric, are you out here?” The voice is Kevin’s. He’s walking towards the shore with Jacob at his side. It doesn’t look like they’ve seen Eric — which luckily means they haven’t seen Haknyeon either.

“Do you want them to see you?” Eric asks Haknyeon, who furiously shakes his head. Eric nods and stands, waving his arm and yelling, “Yeah, I’m— I’m over here! Hold on, I’ll swim back!”

Jacob shouts, “We’re about to have a picnic! The kids want to play kickball later, too!” Kevin jumps a few times, kicking up sand and making Jacob sputter. Jacob glares at him before focusing back on Eric. “Are you alright out there?”

Eric holds out a thumbs-up. He gets down from the rock and slips into the water, next to Haknyeon, where his friends can’t see him.

“I wanna talk with you more,” he proclaims. Haknyeon mirrors his smile. “I can meet you tonight. Is that okay?”

“Yes,” Haknyeon says, biting his lip. “I’ll be waiting.”

——

If there’s one thing Haknyeon is sure of, it’s that this midnight rendezvous is a really, really, really bad idea.

After this morning, when he found the pink boy waiting for _him_ on the rock, Haknyeon knew he had to come back. There’s something about the boy that makes Haknyeon perplexed yet intrigued. They hadn’t had enough time together for him to explore the feeling. Haknyeon wants to learn more about the humans, about the land, about Eric.

He can already imagine Changmin gasping in horror from his coral seabed.

It’s just that Haknyeon has a curiosity that _must_ be sated. All he knows about humans is what the elder merfolk have taught him and the other hatchlings years ago in school, and even that information is heavily biased. According to the curriculum humans are nasty creatures, breathing toxic air, _walking_ , who’d hurt any merperson they come in contact with. Never approach them, the elders would stress, or you’d surely suffer.

Haknyeon thinks it’s all whale blubber. Who’s actually _tried_ talking with the land dwellers? No one, that’s who! The elders feed the young merpeople these delusions, and it’s not fair in the slightest. Exploring the ocean’s vastness has led to some of the greatest discoveries by merfolk. How much of the world are they missing that’s on land?

The water keeps Haknyeon comfortable as he waits by the rocks. After the rising of the moon, he’d managed to sneak away from the pod as they slept. The anxiety had kept him awake, mostly, as well as the thought of seeing Eric again.

“Haknyeon? Are you here?”

Haknyeon peeks from behind the rock, on bated breath. He relaxes once the familiar figure is in his sights. Eric is wearing a long, black covering over his arms and partially over his head. He shuffles along the beach, staring out into the water.

“It’s Eric, with the pink hair.” Haknyeon snorts as the boy shuffles across the sand. “I can’t go into the water. It’s too dark.”

Noting that humans must not see well in the dark, Haknyeon tentatively floats closer to shore. Eric sees him, the reflective nature of Haknyeon’s scales catching his eye, and brightens. Once Haknyeon is perched on the sand, the waves keeping him hydrated, Eric plops onto the ground, too. They say their greetings to one another, cheerful, and dive into conversation.

“Are you a normal boy?” Haknyeon begins.

“My mom told me I was special,” Eric says, pouting, “ _but_ I guess I’m pretty normal. I got ten fingers and ten toes. That’s super normal in my book.” He digs said toes into the sand. “So, are _you_ a normal merman?”

Haknyeon hums, his cheek resting on his hand. He smiles, mischievous. “As a matter of fact, I’m actually a prince of this very deep blue sea. You’re speaking with royalty, Eric. Have some respect!”

Eric gawks, eyes wide. He looks Haknyeon up and down, now growing unconvinced. “You’re pulling my leg,” he says, to which Haknyeon frowns. “You’re joking, I mean!”

“What a strange way to say that,” Haknyeon mumbles. “We say, ‘you’re twisting my tail.’”

“Same difference.” Eric wrinkles his nose. “Are you really a prince? I don’t see a crown... I don’t buy it.”

Caught, Haknyeon lets out a laugh. “Not a prince,” he admits. He lifts his tail. “Just a plain merman.”

“I think you’re still pretty cool!”

Haknyeon smiles. “Do you live here?” he asks.

“No, I’m visiting. It’s for a retreat. Something like an event. I have family and relatives and friends here, too,” Eric answers. “What about you?”

Nodding, Haknyeon says, “My pod lives off the islands, in the coves.”

“Cool. Cool.” Eric leans forward, lips curved into a curious smile. “What’s a pod?”

“What’s a pod, you ask? It’s a family! There are the elders, and the hatchlings, and—”

Haknyeon talks with Eric for hours. Both of them have an endless amount of questions for one another, rattling about the differences in culture and society. Schooling is completely different; humans learn all sorts of subject matter whereas merfolk focus only on what’s underwater. (Eric is shocked when Haknyeon tells him the merfolk don’t use shells as currency, the prominent reason being capitalism doesn’t exist under the sea.)

Haknyeon had never imagined how much of the land he could learn from a young, pink-haired boy. Same on the flipside, Eric tells him, because until yesterday he’d never would have thought mermaids and mermen and everything in between were real.

“We’ve always been here,” Haknyeon says. “Most of us are afraid of what we don’t know.” The sun is threatening to rise. Eric keeps dozing off, eyelids closing and body swaying. “You should go back and sleep.”

“Not tired,” Eric slurs, and then giggles. He must realize how feeble it’d sounded. “Okay, I’ll go. You should sleep, too. However mermen sleep.”

Haknyeon yawns, surprising himself. “Okay,” he says. “Will you see me again?”

Eric stands. “That depends.” Despite how tired he is, he still manages to illuminate the night sky. “Do you want to see me again?”

“I do.”

Extending his arm, Eric offers his hand for Haknyeon to shake. It’s a human courtesy, he explains, for greetings and goodbyes. Haknyeon takes Eric’s hand, expecting to feel the same roughness as a dry barnacle, but he’s completely bewildered at the soft, smooth texture. It’s similar to his own skin, minus the inherent dampness.

“For this to work, you’ll have to let go.”

Haknyeon feels himself blush. He drops Eric’s hand and sniffles, avoiding eye contact. “Sorry, I— We don’t normally do this sort of thing.”

“‘s alright.” Eric smiles. “See you tomorrow, Haknyeon. Same time?”

“Same time.” Haknyeon pushes himself back in the water, Eric’s figure getting smaller and smaller as he floats farther from the shore. “Until then!” he shouts. He can feel his scales tingle as he watches Eric go, with a skip in his step, as if wanting a moment more with the pink-haired boy.

——

Eric meets with Haknyeon every night. It’s easy to sneak out; his family goes to bed after nightly prayer, with Kevin and Jacob having a tendency to chat until one of them knocks out. As long as he has a few hours to be with the merman, he’s content.

There’s always something new he learns about Haknyeon. During the second midnight meet, Eric had asked him how he could speak Korean. Haknyeon answered, simply, that growing up in the area resulted in the language. “My mother tongue is Altaen,” he’d added, “which is basically merpeople-speak.” Eric is bilingual, too, in English and Korean, so he’d squealed excitedly at the similarity. He’d brought pencils and paper the day after to teach Haknyeon about writing and reading, which took the whole night for him to master (sort of).

There are also other tidbits of information, not just about merpeople as a whole. Eric learns about Haknyeon’s favorite fish breed (pinecone fish), family (two sisters, younger and older, with maroon and cerulean tails), and aspirations (an explorer of the many seas). It’s so _exciting_.

Last night, Eric had been able to go under the water with Haknyeon. He’d brought his swim trunks, a waterproof flashlight, and a snorkel. He couldn’t go as deep as Haknyeon, but he was able to follow along, watch Haknyeon’s tail flex as he swam in front of him. Haknyeon had shown him hidden coral and coves, tropical fish resting on the reef. The merman had called it Eric’s brief glimpse of the merfolk world. (Afterwards, Eric had been shivering like an anxious chihuahua. He’d bundled himself in two towels, and Haknyeon had done some cool merman physiological thing that transferred heat to him in no time.)

Eric gives his fair share of the human world, too. He’s brought Haknyeon his favorite Avengers comic book, shown him how his iPhone and emojis work. Haknyeon’s favorite is the emoji with the police hat; he likes the concept of authority. It sucks since he can’t exactly bring Haknyeon on land without a massive fish tank, but Eric makes do.

Human life is vast, but Haknyeon is just as taken with Eric’s day-to-day. He’s told Haknyeon about his school, his friends, and his hobbies. (Eric had taken half an hour to explain the basics of baseball, and retrospectively another half hour to explain what sports are.) To Eric, it’s boring. To Haknyeon, it’s anything but.

Haknyeon’s favorite thing to learn about, aside from Eric’s life, is human food. The options are pretty limited in the ocean: fish, clams, or kelp. The three basic food groups, Haknyeon scoffs, which get tiring after a while. When Eric had told him about cooking with _fire_ , Haknyeon had practically begged him to show how it works. At the time, Eric could only play a video off YouTube, but Haknyeon was amazed nonetheless.

Tonight, Eric brings a small picnic basket with him as he heads to the beach. He couldn’t do much in the kitchen, because the noise would definitely wake someone, so he’s packed the basket with snacks: fruit, chips, candy, and a few bottles of juice for refreshments. It’s not exactly a square meal, but Eric is going for tastiness, not health.

When he reaches the beach, he can already see Haknyeon waiting for him. The merman is lying on his stomach, drawing letters on the sand, the waves rising to his waist. As Eric comes closer he can hear Haknyeon humming an unrecognizable song, tune enchanting. He wonders, in the back of his mind, if sirens are real and related to merfolk. He’ll ask later.

Eric greets Haknyeon, dropping onto the ground and placing the basket in between them. Right away, Haknyeon’s hands rummage inside and pull out item after item. He makes excited noises as he stares, mouth agape, at the various foods.

“What’s this?” Haknyeon asks, holding the slice of watermelon between his thumb and index finger.

“Eat it!”

Haknyeon brings it to his nose and sniffs it. He makes a face. “Will this poison me?”

Eric snorts. “If you’re allergic to good food.” He takes a moment to process his own words. “Wait, uh, Haknyeon, on second thought, maybe you shouldn’t eat—”

The warning is unheeded. Haknyeon chomps down on the watermelon, eyes immediately bulging out of his head. “Holy Poseidon, it’s good! It’s so, so, _so_ sweet! Whoa!” Eric chuckles, relieved, handing him another slice.

“This is... watermelon?” Haknyeon says, skeptic, after Eric tells him the name of the food. “ _Water_ melon? So why doesn’t it grow in the water?”

Eric ponders. “Seeds grow in the soil,” he starts. “The roots suck up nutrients, which, um... Fertilizer... Photosynthesis...” He scratches his head. “Actually, I’m not really sure.”

“Are there humans who know why?”

“Scientists. Botanists, for sure. Farmers.” Eric snickers at Haknyeon’s blank look. “Those are careers humans can have. Jobs that pay them,” he explains.

“ _You_ can be a farmer,” Haknyeon suggests. He grins. “Grow me hundreds of watermelon. A colony of watermelon! Enough to feed my whole pod!”

Eric laughs, nearly falling back. Once he gets his bearings, he shakes his head. “I wanna be a scientist. Study the ocean. Environmental stuff, too, maybe.” Haknyeon gives him another blank look. “That’s, like, trying to get the environment back to its best condition. Humans are polluting the earth with harmful chemicals and junk.”

“You’re telling me,” Haknyeon tuts. “Juyeon nearly swallowed one of those... plastic bags the other day. He’d thought it was a jellyfish and wanted to have a snack. He could’ve choked!”

Eric can’t help but wince. “Is Juyeon the one who’s in love with Changmin?”

“No, that’s Younghoon. Juyeon is the one who’s next in line to be the pod leader.” Haknyeon nibbles on the watermelon. “You’d like him. He’s good at taking care of people. You should meet.”

“Some day,” Eric says, grinning.

They talk. They eat. They laugh. Eric’s heart beats twice as fast. It seems like these stolen moments could last forever, but alas. All good things must come to an end.

——

The moon is high. There aren’t any clouds out tonight, so the light shines brightly on the beach. Haknyeon waits on the shore, unable to keep himself from flapping his tail back and forth. He finds a hermit crab to keep him company as he practices writing letters in the sand. When he spots Eric’s pink hair, flopping in the wind, he immediately straightens his back and waves.

Eric drops to his knees in front of Haknyeon, breathing heavily. His cheeks are red. He doesn’t look like his typical, cheery self.

“I’m leaving soon.”

“You just got here,” Haknyeon says, bewildered. He doesn’t get a response. Eric’s expression doesn’t light up either. “Hey, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”

“I’m... leaving this place. The retreat is over, so my family is going back home to the city.” Eric digs a hole in the sand, unable to look at Haknyeon. “Tomorrow morning.”

It shouldn’t be as heartbreaking as Haknyeon is making it. The overwhelming feeling of despair, loneliness, chilled to the bone, as if he’s plunged headfirst into the arctic waters. He’s known from the start that Eric’s presence was only going to be temporary. Haknyeon had made the decision to interact with a human boy who was never meant to stay. He’d known that this affair had to meet its end eventually.

“I see.” Haknyeon swallows. He musters a smile. “I guess I won’t be able to taste watermelon anymore. I’ll miss it.”

“You’ll miss me, too, right?” Eric’s voice is pleading. He sounds as desperate as Haknyeon feels. There’s something innocent, something precious about it.

“Of course,” Haknyeon declares. He holds out his hand for Eric to take. His skin is soft. “You showed me the world above land. I showed you the one below the waves.”

“And there’s still so much to see,” Eric whispers. “I want to show you more. I want— I want to show you everything.”

Haknyeon fits his fingers with Eric’s. “When can you return?”

“I don’t know. Another year. Maybe more.” Eric holds Haknyeon’s hand against his cheek and sighs. “Is it too much to ask you to wait?”

“For you?” Haknyeon presses his lips to Eric’s knuckles. “I promise I will.”

——

One year later, Kevin and Jacob graduate high school and move to university in Canada. Eric chooses not to join them, but he stays in touch. Around the same time, he buys a bulkload of empty glass bottles, parchment paper, and permanent ink pens.

Two years after that, Eric gets accepted to the seaside college of his dreams. He moves into an apartment with two strangers, Hyunjoon and Sunwoo, who grow to be his best friends. Hyunjoon buys the groceries, Eric cleans the rooms, and Sunwoo keeps a metal bat in his room in case of a robbery. They share some classes, so it’s also a matter of crying over deadlines and professors who won’t email back.

Eric dyes his hair blue at some point, with Hyunjoon’s help, because it reminds him of the sea. Sunwoo tells him he shouldn’t have to explain his reasoning for the color, but Eric does anyway. Hyunjoon tells him he looks good. Younger, perhaps. Eric’s going for _fresh_. He maintains the color until he realizes it fades horribly in saltwater.

Four years of draining coursework and research, Eric graduates with a degree in marine biology. Kevin and Jacob return to Korea to watch him walk, bringing in a poster that displays an embarrassing collage of Eric’s baby pictures. His parents, who’d sent them those photos via Dropbox, adore it. Eric, not so much. Hyunjoon and Sunwoo make fun of three-year-old Eric’s curly locks real-time in the groupchat, phones stealthily hidden under their robes.

After the ceremony, Eric’s parents hand him a bouquet of roses and a bucket of water balloons. (“Helium doesn’t seem very _you_ , sweetie,” his mother says.) The resulting water balloon fight is aimed at everyone sans Hyunjoon, who’d spent forty minutes getting his makeup just right and Eric doesn’t have the heart for ruining. Jacob takes a water balloon to the face for Kevin, which pops on impact and leaves the elder drenched. The pictures are priceless.

A month later, Eric is a groomsman at Kevin and Jacob’s wedding in Vancouver. He makes a toast, cries only a little, and eats three slices of matcha-flavored wedding cake. Some girls try to get his number, but he tells them he’s been taken since high school.

“Eric’s in love with a fish,” Kevin slurs, at the end of the night, Jacob’s tie tied around his head like a headband.

“Half-fish,” Jacob corrects, a soft smile on his face, and Eric just shakes his head as he chuckles.

It takes a few more years, but Eric finally has enough funds to purchase his very own sailboat. It’s sky blue, the sail cloudy white. Eric paints the name of the boat on the side, pink paint along the edges. He packs all his supplies, first aid and emergency kits, food and drink. His scuba gear has enough oxygen for at least a month before needing to restock. Jacob is letting him borrow his waterproof camera for the trip. He and Kevin expect never before seen snapshots of the world below the waves — and, if the merfolk permit, photos of them as well.

Eric meets Haknyeon once more on the beach, looking as radiant as the summer sun, bathed in the light of the vanilla sky, and they set off to sea.

(Haknyeon loves the _S.S. Watermelon_.)


End file.
